One item of note is that JMax played big minutes in the second half after not playing much in the first. He was out there for Dice for most of the 4th quarter, maybe the entire period. JMax's numbers weren't all that big, but he definitely had a more positive impact on the game than Dice, and Flip stuck with him down the stretch as a result.

Yep, got to love the unit that played most of the 4th. Hayes was hitting his shots in the 2nd half (better shot selection compared to the first half where he missed a few questionable shots), helping on the boards a lot, and not hurting us on D since Miami does not have a particularly quick small forward.

The backcourt was Billups and Prince in the 4th, our two scoring stars for this night. Of course Prince had his career game, 34 points and 12 boards. Billups was busting it inside most of the game and scoring at the line over and over.

And the bigs, my favorite combo, JMAX and Sheed. Sheed hit some threes, and did damage inside too. Between Sheed, Tay, and Billups, we ended up having one strong inside game after a very slow start in that regard. We were at the line all night, and conversely, Miami players, like Shaq, were on the bench in foul trouble all night. Om all, this unit could score at will, and could barely be scored upon. And gee, we get Rip Hamilton to add to the mix tomorro night. For Miami, Shaq was scoreless in the first half, only playing 11 minutes due to foul trouble. And they even called an offensive foul of his an offensive foul. Yep, really hard to believe. D. Wright did some damage early for them, and Ricky Davis heated up pretty good for a while (with Murray guarding him.)

Of note, something happened tonight that never happened last year. Mohammed scored in the post against a center. He actually decided not to fade on his shot, but instead just took it up strong and over Mourning. Well, thats once, lets see if its a pattern. Otherwise, Mohammed did ok around the boards, but did very little overall in a whole lot of minutes.

Flip Murray had a decent moment or two. One good defensive play. A drive in and score when he first came into the game. And one time pushing the ball up and dishing it off to an open shooter. But other than that, we just got poor D from him, poor ball handling, and several questionable shots.

Afflalo played solid D when in, which was about 12 minutes total. He came out due to foul trouble after 4 minutes of the first, and played maybe 8 minutes of the 3rd quarter. Afflalo hit one triple, and that is the only shot I remember him taking. The announcers mistakenly said he got out too late on the shooter once, but corrected that later showing the play from a better angle.

Tay played a ton in this one. He was our starting small forward, and our chief backup point guard. What a game. Inside all night, and then when we were well ahead he helped keep the lead with some hot outside shooting. Got to love that one sequence where we held the ball to run some clock and then Tay buried the 3.

JMAX missed a dunk or two that would have really made this game for him. Good D. Good active feet. He cut a guy off trying to drive the baseline on him and drew the charge. He made half his free throws, did not hit an outside shots. (I know he took one. Maybe that was all.)

Oh yeah, Dyess is on the team. Dyess limited his game to an occasional jump shot, and he made about 3 for the game. Him being in the starting unit makes the starting unit look bad. Our worst play by far was when Dyess and Mohammed teamed up to provide zero interior D. That was ugly, and fortunately short lived.

Didnt watch the game, just saw the box, what happened to cutting the starter's min?!

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Without Rip and with Stuckey and Amir still sidelined, I wouldn't expect there to be much relief for the remaining starters, who all logged big minutes. Flip Jr. playing 21 minutes while CB still logs 39 is not likely to be a frequent pattern.

Without Rip and with Stuckey and Amir still sidelined, I wouldn't expect there to be much relief for the remaining starters, who all logged big minutes. Flip Jr. playing 21 minutes while CB still logs 39 is not likely to be a frequent pattern.

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Rip will eat up a lot of those minutes including some of the 40 plus that Tay logged tonight because Hayes won't have to play the #2 when Rip returns like he did tonight.

When Hot Rod returns the minutes will flatten out among the rotation players and Tay probably won't play much if any point guard like he did tonight.

I hope I am wrong but I believe that AJ will be a non factor for quite a while this year and maybe the whole year.

Shaq is washed up and a non factor. The Heat will be lucky to make the playoffs even after Wade returns and the addition of Davis and Blount.

My guess for the year Shaq will average about 12-15 points and 6 or so rebounds. Not exactly the kind of numbers you want from your starting center.

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He really did look bad tonight. Aside from one stretch in the 3rd quarter where he strung a few baskets together, he was completely ineffective. I think he can still be good on occasion when Wade is in there to draw most of the defense's attention, but maybe not. We know that Shaq certainly doesn't get better these days as the season goes on and he gets more worn down.

The boyz looked a little razzled there in the 3rd quarter, but overall they played like a team missing their leading scorer (Rip). Tay stepped up big, but we are going to need more production out of Sheed and Dice in the starting lineup if we expect to stay competitive and build any leads in the first qtr.

The extra minutes may be affecting Dices's defense too. I am wondering if we should go with JMAX starting or even dare I say, Nazmo, so that Dice can play with Alf, Hayes and Flip jr. in the second unit and maybe he's a little fresher... Then again other than SHeed being out there, the whole interior defense is suspect and we still don't know what Amir will deliver on the defense....

Nice road win vs a struggling team. Worst thing would be to lose to a Heat team with out wade and an over the hill Shaq and Zo...Let's see if they can do the Florida two step and take out the Magic tomorrow.

Buddahfan, I'm afraid that Rip being back would only cut into the bench minutes. I don't think it would impact Rip and CB much. We've seen the same thing for 2 years.

I know Dysse will come around. This is how he starts out. It just gets frustrating to watch DET play good D or make a steal only to see early season Dysse come bounding in and watch the ball go of his hands while he makes the Dysse face. The only thing missing is a thought bubble saying, 'Did I do that?'

I really think DET could improve a lot if they simply threw the ball into the post during their sets. It doesn't mean they have to shoot from there.